One of 50.7 Million

Never in my life did I ever expect to be admitted into a hospital. February 13, 2011, I found myself laying in a hospital bed with the flu. I did not have insurance because I thought that I would never need it at my age. I stayed in that hospital room for four days and then I was released. I was later told that I had a really bad case of the flu and I was prescribed some medicine to completely knock it out. A few weeks later, I felt pretty good and I felt that my hospital bill would not be so high since I did not stay long. My total bill came in the mail: $14,784.92. I could not believe what I just saw. I wondered to myself; who in the world has that kind of money just laying around? Obviously not me.

My medical bill led me to do a little research on uninsured Americans. In September 2010, it was found that 50.7 million Americans are uninsured. So, there's a lot of people that are just like me. Then I wondered why the bill was so high. I saw how they ran every test known to man and sea monkeys to figure out what was wrong with me. The point is that everything has to deal with money in some kind of way and hospitals are no different. The average hospital bill will run about $1,300, but the cost generally depends on if the patient is insured or not, whether the patient arrived at the hospital by ambulance, and/or if they require surgery. All I know is that I owe some people a lot of money.

A Sign of Social Inequality?...Maybe.

Social inequality is something that is ever-present in today's society. You could take a look in any aspect of society and find situations, opportunities, and/or outcomes unequal. I was on the job the other day and a thought came to me; I wondered why I didn't have to follow a policy that I previously followed at another store. First off, I am from Fayetteville, NC and I commute back and forth to UNCP (which also happens to be the greatest school in the universe). Working in Fayetteville and attending UNCP wasn't going to work for me, so I found it better to transfer to a store in Lumberton, NC. In Fayetteville, I worked at "Store X" and knew the policies very well. When I made my transfer to "Store C" (located in Lumberton), I noticed that things were a little different. Obviously, there cannot be the same set of rules for every store, but for the most part, you have the same basic polices and procedures for everyday business. One specific policy at "Store X" stated that if a checkout lane contained two or more customers, an employee should take the time out to open another checkout lane. This move seems courteous right? Well, this polite and respectful gesture is not included in the policy at "Store C." Let's suppose that on the same day, these two stores make the same amount of money. "Store C" would have two checkout lanes open while "Store X" would have four. Why is this? Shouldn't every store have this one general, fundamental policy? Aren't all customers supposed to be important? Does someone from Lumberton have to wait while someone from Fayetteville gets waited on? What's the big difference between these two areas? Is one city superior and the other inferior? Is one civilized and the other not so accomplished? Is it a sign of social inequality?...Maybe.

Health Status and Health Care Access of Farm and Rural Populations

For starters, I really don't know how to "blog." I just wanted to make that point clear. Regarding the first question, I truly do not know anything about the health issues of Robeson, Scotland, and Hoke counties. Regarding the assigned reading, I learned that quantity and quality both are issues in rural areas when it comes to health care. A lower population for nonmetro areas equals a lower standard for service and fewer resources. For example, it would be unfair for someone to get better treatment because he lives in Raleigh, while someone from Lumberton would travel to Raleigh for better health care. I believe issues like these need to be addressed because every American deserves the right to high quality health care regardless of their situation. By "every American," I mean all races, genders, colors, and social class. With that said, what does the statistics show for rural areas such as the counties of Robeson, Scotland, and Hoke? Does it follow the same pattern from this study? Will the issues be addressed?